MOUNTAIN VIEW, California. ( Associated Press) — Google will automatically delete data from users who visit abortion clinics and other places that could now put them in legal trouble, as the U.S. The Supreme Court has struck down the constitutional right to abortion, leaving the door open for the states. Restrict the process.
The company behind the Internet’s leading search engine and whose Android software covers most of the world’s phones outlined new privacy protections in a blog post on Friday.
In addition to automatically removing visits to abortion clinics, Google noted medical and counseling centers, fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, weight loss clinics and plastic surgery clinics will also be removed from users’ location histories. Users have always had the option to edit their location history, but now Google will do so for them as an added level of security.
“We are committed to providing strong privacy protections for the people using our products, and we will continue to explore new ways to strengthen and improve those protections,” said Jane Fitzpatrick, Google’s vice president, in the blog.
The announcement comes amid mounting pressure on Google and other tech giants to do more to protect their users’ personal information from authorities on their digital products and services.
The Supreme Court’s decision to enforce stricter privacy controls in Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the country. The decision could make abortion illegal in more than a dozen states, allowing people’s location, text, search and email histories to be used in lawsuits against abortion procedures or even for medical abortion care. .
Like other technology companies, Google receives thousands of government lawsuits every year as part of its investigations into the digital records of its users. Google says it rejects applications and other claims that are vague or unfounded.
